Water purifying system and backwash module control method thereof

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a water purifying system, including: a raw water tank configured to store raw water; a filter unit configured to include a plurality of filtration modules for purifying the raw water and a plurality of valves for feeding or cutting off the raw water; a raw water pump configured to feed the raw water from the raw water tank to the filter unit; and a backwash module configured to feed backwash water to the filter unit, in which some of permeate water permeated by the filter unit is fed to the backwash module to be used as the backwash water and a feed pressure of the backwash water is fed by the raw water pump.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0146906, filed on Oct. 21, 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a water purifying system and a backwash module control method thereof, and more particularly, to a water purifying system and a backwash module control thereof capable of performing backwash of a filter module using a pressure of a pressure of produced water for membrane filtration without a backwash pump.

Description of the Related Art

Recently, underground water, rivers, or the like are seriously contaminated due to heavy metal, pathogenic microorganism, micro organic toxic materials, or the like, and therefore safety guarantee of drinking water has been considered very important. Accordingly, an interest in researches for a water purifying apparatus and a water purifying method of drinking water to guarantee safe drinking water has been increased. As a typical water purifying method, there are a chlorination method, an ozone treatment method, a membrane filtration method, etc. Here, a water purifying system for changing some of the treatment methods or operating at least two treatment methods by step has been mainly used.

However, the existing chlorination method has a problem in that trihalomethane is generated as a byproduct at the time of chlorine disinfection and the existing ozone treatment method has a problem in that ozone selectively treats organic toxic materials.

The water purifying method using the membrane filtration is a method for filtering and removing pollutants included in raw water using a membrane as described in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-0079479 and has an advantage of reducing a scale of water purifying apparatus. However, there is a disadvantage in that a closure of the filtration membrane due to pollutants causes a frequent replacement of the filtration membrane to incur excessive operation costs.

To solve the disadvantage of the water purifying method using the membrane filtration method, a separate backwash water storage tank and pump and a backwash system for backwash of the filtration membrane need to be constructed.

However, there is a problem in that the existing backwash system costs a lot upon construction and incurs additional operation costs due to the operation of the pump.

RELATED ART DOCUMENT Patent Document

(Patent Document 1) Korean Patent Laid Open Publication No. 2003-0079479 (Published on Oct. 10, 2003)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a water purifying system and a backwash module control method thereof capable of performing backwash of a filter module using a pressure of produced water for membrane filtration without a backwash pump.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention can be understood by the following description, and become apparent with reference to the embodiments of the present invention. Also, it is obvious to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains that the objects and advantages of the present invention can be realized by the means as claimed and combinations thereof.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a water purifying system, including: a raw water tank configured to store raw water; a filter unit configured to include a plurality of filtration modules for purifying the raw water and a plurality of valves for feeding or cutting off the raw water; a raw water pump configured to feed the raw water from the raw water tank to the filter unit; and a backwash module configured to feed backwash water to the filter unit, in which some of permeate water permeated by the filter unit is fed to the backwash module to be used as the backwash water and a feed pressure of the backwash water is fed by the raw water pump.

The backwash module may be provided with two inlets and outlets.

The one inlet may be provided with a first valve for controlling a flux of the raw water, the other inlet may be provided with a fourth valve for feeding the permeate water, the one outlet may be provided with a second valve for discharging the raw water, and the other outlet may be provided with a third valve for discharging the backwash water.

The backwash module may be a pressure vessel or a pressure tank.

An inside of the pressure vessel may be provided with a piston moving along a length direction, the piston may move to the first valve when the permeate water is fed to discharge the raw water to an outside of the pressure vessel and move to the third valve when the raw water is fed to discharge the backwash water to the outside of the pressure vessel.

An inside of the pressure tank may be provided with a diaphragm, the diaphragm may move to the first valve when the permeate water is fed to discharge the raw water to the outside of the pressure vessel and move to the third valve when the raw water is fed to discharge the backwash water to the outside of the pressure vessel.

The pressure tank may be installed at a movement limit position of the diaphragm and may further include a pair of plates provided with a plurality of through holes.

The inside of the pressure tank may include a balloon-like diaphragm, the diaphragm may be pressurized when the raw water is fed to discharge the backwash water therein to the outside of the pressure tank and inflated when the permeate water is fed to discharge the raw water at the outside thereof to the outside of the pressure tank.

The water purifying system may further include: a dirty water tank configured to discharge the backwash water after the backwash of the filtration module.

An amount of permeate water of the filtration module may be increased as a required amount of the backwash water.

When the permeate water permeated by the filtration module is fed to a reverse osmosis system, the flux of the raw water may be increased as the required amount of the backwash water.

The water purifying system may further include: a flow meter configured to be installed at a front end of the first valve to detect the flux of the raw water.

The first valve may be a flow control valve and the second to fourth valves may be an on/off valve.

When the backwash module is fed with the permeate water, the first and third valves may be closed and the second and fourth valves may be open, when the backwash is performed, the first and third valves may be open and the second and fourth valves may be closed.

The first valve may control the flux of the raw water depending on a preset backwash flux.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a backwash module control method of the water purifying system having the configuration, in which the first to fourth valves are controlled depending on the re-feed of the permeate water to the backwash module upon the backwash when the permeate water is fed to the backwash module.

When the permeate water is fed and re-fed to the backwash module, the first and third valves may be closed and the second and fourth valves may be open.

When the backwash is performed, the first and third valves may be open and the second and fourth valves may be closed.

The first valve may control the flux of the raw water depending on the detection result of the flow meter detecting the flux of the raw water.

The first valve may control the flux of the raw water depending on a preset backwash flux.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a water purifying system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a first embodiment of a backwash module according to the water purifying system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of the backwash module according to the water purifying system of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic diagrams of a third embodiment of the backwash module according to the water purifying system of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams of a fourth embodiment of the backwash module according to the water purifying system of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a water purifying system and a backwash module control method thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a water purifying system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the water purifying system according to the embodiment of the present invention is a system based on a filtration membrane method and includes a raw water tank 100 configured to feed raw water, a raw water pump 200 configured to feed the raw water, a filter unit configured to purify the raw water, and a backwash module 400 configured to wash a filter unit. The water purifying system includes a plurality of control valves or an on/off valve to open and close a channel for feeding and cutting off the raw water, feeding and cutting off backwash water, discharging permeate water permeated by a filter unit, or the like. In particular, the backwash module 400 is provided with two inlets and outlets, in which each inlet and outlet are provided with first to fourth valves 570.

The respective components of the present invention are connected to each other by a transfer tube through which any one of the raw water, the backwash water, and the permeate water is transferred. Unless separately mentioned, it will to be understood that water circulating within the water purifying system of the present invention is transferred along the transfer tube.

The raw water tank 100 is used to temporarily store the raw water, in which the raw water is transferred to the filter unit by the raw water pump 200.

The filter unit is configured to include a plurality of filtration modules 300 and a plurality of valves (these are illustrated in the drawings but have no reference numeral) for feeding and discharging the raw water and the backwash water, in which the filtration module 300 may be implemented as a microfiltration (MF) module, an ultrafiltration (UF) module, etc.

The microfiltration membrane is one of the polymeric separator membranes and has a micro pore of about 0.01 to 10 micros and stops suspensoid, colloidal particles, bacteria, or the like. The ultrafiltration membrane passes though water but does not pass through polymer material or colloidal materials.

One filtration module 300 is configured by modularizing 10 to 100 filtration membranes depending on raw water processing capacity. If an operating time of the filtration module 300 is long, foreign materials are attached to a surface of the filtration membrane, and therefore filtration efficiency is reduced. As a result, it is essential to wash the filtration module 300. As the typical method for washing a filtration membrane, a method for separating pollutants attached to a separator membrane by feeding washing water in a direction opposite to a direction in which the raw water is fed, without separately separating and washing the filtration membrane is used. The method is defined as backwash.

The permeate water purified by the filtration module 300 may be transferred to a separate permeate water storage tank and stored therein or may be fed to a reverse osmosis system to be re-permeated.

The backwash module 400 may be provided as a pressure vessel or a pressure tank. Some of the raw water fed by the raw water pump 200 is fed to the backwash module 400. For this purpose, a separate transfer tube is connected to a back end of the raw water pump 200.

The backwash water for backwash uses some of the permeate water permeated by the filtration module 300 and some of the permeate water is fed to the pressure vessel or the pressure tank of the backwash module 400. For this purpose, the separate transfer tube is branched from the permeate water outlet and thus is connected to the backwash module 400.

As the backwash water, the permeate water in the pressure vessel or the pressure tank is fed to the filtration module 300 by the pressure applied into the pressure vessel or the pressure tank. The water used for backwash the filtration membrane of the filtration module 300 is discharged to a separate dirtywash water tank. If the backwash is completed, the raw water within the backwash module is discharged and the backwash module is again filled with some of the permeate water (refer to FIG. 2).

The operating principle of the backwash module 400 will be described below in more detail.

The backwash module 400 is provided with two inlets and outlets, in which one inlet is introduced with the raw water and the other inlet is introduced with the permeate water, and the backwash module 400 is further provided with a plurality of valves 500. Further, the raw water is discharged to one outlet and the permeate water for backwash is discharged to the other outlet. The inlet into which the raw water is introduced is provided with a first valve 510 and a flow meter 512 and the outlet to which the raw water is discharged is provided with a second valve 530. Further, the outlet to which the permeate water is discharged is provided with a third valve 550 and the inlet into which the permeate water is introduced is provided with a fourth valve 570. The first valve 510 may be provided as a flow control valve and the second to fourth valves 530, 550, and 570 may be provided as the on/off valve.

When some of the permeate water purified by passing through the filtration module 300 is introduced into the pressure vessel or the pressure tank of the backwash module 400, the first valve 510 and the third valve 550 is closed and the second valve 530 and the fourth valve 570 are open. Therefore, the inside of the pressure vessel or the pressure tank is filled with the permeate water.

Upon the backwash, the second valve 530 and the fourth valve 570 are closed and the first valve 510 and the third valve 550 are open, and thus the permeate water in the pressure vessel or the pressure tank is discharged through the third valve 550 by the introduction pressure of the raw water.

Generally, the operating pressure of the filtration module 300 is equal to or more than 3 bars but the backwash pressure is enough to be equal to or less than 3 bars. Therefore, even though a separate pump for feeding the backwash water is not provided, the backwash water may be fed to the filtration module 300 only by the feed pressure of the raw water.

Hereinafter, various forms of the backwash module 400 will be described.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a first embodiment of a backwash module according to the water purifying system of FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of the backwash module according to the water purifying system of FIG. 1.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, backwash modules 400 a and 400 b may be a tube type pressure vessel.

The backwash module 400 a may be a horizontal type to an installation surface as illustrated in FIG. 2 but the pressure vessel 400 b may be a vertical type to the installation surface as illustrated in FIG. 3.

The inside of the pressure vessel of FIG. 3 may be provided with a piston 402 and the feed direction of the raw water and the discharge direction of the backwash water may be disposed on a straight line.

The pressure vessel of FIG. 3 is not illustrated in the drawing, but like the horizontal type, the inside of the pressure vessel is provided with the piston. In this case, the discharge direction of the backwash water corresponds to an arrow direction.

FIGS. 4 and 3B are schematic diagrams of a fourth embodiment of the backwash module according to the water purifying system of FIG. 1.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 3B, a backwash module 400 c according to the present invention may be configured to include the pressure tank 410 and a diaphragm 412 installed in the pressure tank 410.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the diaphragm 412 moves a lower portion of the pressure tank 410 by the feed pressure of the raw water fed from an upper portion of the pressure tank 410 and discharges the previously filled backwash water to the lower portion of the pressure tank 410. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the pressure of the permeate water after the backwash introduced into the lower portion of the pressure tank 410 moves the diaphragm 412 to the upper portion of the pressure tank 410 discharges the raw water filled in the pressure tank 410 to the upper portion of the pressure tank 410.

The upper and lower portions of the pressure tank 410 are provided with a pair of plates 414 which is formed corresponding to a movement limit position of the diaphragm 412. Further, the plate 414 is provided with a plurality of through holes and therefore does not hinder the movement of the raw water or the backwash water.

FIGS. 6 and 4B are schematic diagrams of a fourth embodiment of the backwash module according to the water purifying system of FIG. 1.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 4B, a backwash module 400 d according to the present invention may be configured to include the pressure tank 410 and a balloon-like diaphragm 412 installed in the pressure tank 410.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the pressure of the raw water applied from the upper portion of the pressure tank 410 presses the diaphragm 412 from the outside and the backwash water in the diaphragm 412 is discharged to the lower portion of the pressure tank 410 while the diaphragm 412 is pressurized by the pressure of the raw water. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the diaphragm 412 is inflated by the pressure of the permeate water after the backwash that is introduced from the lower portion of the pressure tank 410 into the diaphragm 412 to push the raw water filled in the outside of the diaphragm 412 to the upper portion of the pressure tank 410, thereby discharging the raw water.

As such, if some of the permeate water permeated by the filtration module 300 is used as the backwash water, it is preferable to design and operation a system to produce more permeate water as much as the amount of permeate water required for the backwash.

When the permeate water is not stored in the permeate water storage tank and is directly connected to a feed water tube of the reverse osmosis system, the feed water fed to the reverse osmosis system is reduced as much as the amount of backwash water used for the backwash. To solve the problem, the reduction in flux of the feed water to the reverse osmosis system may be supplemented by increasing the processing capacity of the raw water pump 200 and increasing the flux of the raw water.

A flow of fluid by processed state in the water purifying system according to the present invention having the foregoing configuration will be described below (refer to FIG. 1).

First, if the raw water is fed from the raw water 100 to the raw water pump 200, the raw water is fed to each of the filtration modules 300 through the plurality of valves. In this case, the flow direction of the raw water and the permeate water passing through the filtration module 300 is a direction toward the separate permeate water storage tank and the valves are open toward the corresponding direction.

At the backwash time set in the system, first, some of the permeate water is fed to the backwash module 400 through the transfer tube branched from the transfer tube, connected to the permeate water storage tank. In this case, a first valve 510 and a third valve 550 are in a closed state and a second valve 530 and a fourth valve 570 are in an open state. The fourth valve 570 is open toward the backwash module 400. Next, some of the raw water is fed from the backwash module 400 through the transfer tube branched from the back end of the raw water pump 200 and the first valve 510 and the third valve 550 are in the open state and the second valve 530 and the fourth valve 570 are in the closed state.

The flux of raw water fed to the first valve 510 is detected by the flow meter 512. The first valve 510 adjusts a flux depending on the detected result and thus the raw water is fed to the backwash module 400. For this purpose, the first valve 510 is preferably provided as the flow control valve. The backwash flux may be preset upon the design of the system. As the backwash water, the permeate water in the backwash module 400 is fed to the filtration module 300 by the feed pressure of the raw water. A front end of the third valve 500 for discharging the backwash water to the filtration module 300 may also be provided with the flow meter, if necessary. The operation of the filtration module 300 stops when the backwash is performed, and the valves for feeding the raw water are closed and only the valves for feeding the backwash water are open. The washing water including the foreign materials after the backwash is discharged to the separate dirty water tank. After the backwash is completed, all the valves for feeding the backwash water are closed and the valves for feeding the raw water for purification are open.

After the backwash, the backwash module 400 is again filled with the permeate water. For this purpose, the first valve 510 and the third valve 550 are closed and the second valve 530 and the fourth valve 570 are open.

As described above, various types of backwash modules may be provided and the backwash water may be fed only by the feed pressure of the raw water without the separate backwash water feeding pump, thereby reducing the energy consumption.

According to the water purifying system and the backwash module control method thereof in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to save the capital expenditure (CAPEX) upon the construction of the backwash system by performing the backwash of the filter module using the pressure of the produced water for membrane filtration without the backwash pump. Further, it is possible to reduce the energy consumption by removing the backwash pump.

The various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, which is described as above and shown in the drawings, should not be interpreted as limiting the technical spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is limited only by matters set forth in the claims and those skilled in the art can modify and change the technical subjects of the present invention in various forms. Therefore, as long as these improvements and changes are apparent to those skilled in the art, they are included in the protective scope of the present invention. 

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method of controlling a backwash module configured to perform a backwash by feeding backwash water to a raw water filter, the backwash module including a first inlet configured to receive raw water from a tank storing the raw water, a second inlet configured to receive a portion of permeate water permeated by the raw water filter, a first outlet through which the received raw water is discharged, and a second outlet through which the backwash water is discharged, the method comprising: using the received raw water to apply pressure to the portion of permeate water such that the backwash module feeds the portion of permeate water to the raw water filter as the backwash water, and using the received portion of the permeate water to apply pressure to the received raw water such that the backwash module feeds the raw water back to the tank.
 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising: opening second and fourth valves (530, 570) respectively connected to the first outlet and the second inlet in order to feed the portion of the permeate water to the backwash module; and opening first and third valves (510, 550) respectively connected to the first inlet and the second outlet in order to perform the backwash.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the first and third valves (510, 550) are closed when feeding the portion of the permeate water to the backwash module, and wherein the second and fourth valves (530, 570) are closed when performing the backwash.
 24. The method of claim 21, further comprising: detecting a flux of the raw water received from the tank; and controlling the flux of the raw water at the first inlet depending on the detecting.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the flux of the raw water is controlled based on a preset backwash flux.
 26. The method of claim 21, further comprising stopping an operation of the raw water filter when the backwash is performed by stopping a flow of the raw water to the raw water filter during the backwash.
 27. The method of claim 21, further comprising controlling the pressure applied to the portion of permeate water by pumping the raw water received from the tank to the backwash module.
 28. The method of claim 27, further comprising: directly applying the permeate water from the raw water filter to a reverse osmosis system such that water fed to the reverse osmosis system is reduced by as much as an amount of the backwash water used for the backwash; and compensating for the reduction in flux of the feed water to the reverse osmosis system by increasing a flux of the raw water pumped to the backwash module.
 29. The method of claim 21, further comprising: discharging the backwash water to a dirty water tank after the backwash of the raw water filter such that water fed to the backwash module is reduced by as much as an amount of the backwash water discharged to the dirty water tank.
 30. The method of claim 21, further comprising: compensating for the reduction in flux of the feed water to the backwash module by increasing an amount of permeate water supplied to the backwash module as a required amount of the backwash water increases.
 31. A backwash module configured to perform a backwash by feeding backwash water to a raw water filter, the backwash module comprising: a first inlet configured to receive raw water from a tank storing the raw water; a second inlet configured to receive a portion of permeate water permeated by the raw water filter; a first outlet through which the received raw water is discharged; and a second outlet through which the backwash water is discharged, wherein the backwash module feeds the raw water from the first outlet back to the raw water tank.
 32. The backwash module of claim 31, further comprising: a first valve (510) to control the raw water received at the first inlet; a second valve (530) to control the raw water discharged at the first outlet; a third valve (550) to control the backwash water discharged at the second outlet; and a fourth valve (570) to control the permeate water fed to the second inlet.
 33. The backwash module of claim 31, wherein the backwash module includes a pressurized volume formed as one of a pressure vessel and a pressure tank, and wherein the pressurized volume is compartmentalized by first and second porous plates to include: a first compartment communicating with the first inlet and the first outlet; a second compartment communicating with the second inlet and the second outlet; and a common compartment configured to receive the raw water through the first porous plate and to receive the backwash water through the second porous plate.
 34. The backwash module of claim 33, wherein the pressurized volume consists of a plurality of pressurized volumes arranged according to one of a vertical pattern and a horizontal pattern, each of the plurality of pressurized volumes including a movable member configured to move lengthwise within the pressurized volume in correspondence with a cycle of a preset backwash time.
 35. The backwash module of claim 33, further comprising: a movable member configured to move between the first and second porous plates, wherein the movable member travels toward the first porous plate when the portion of permeate water is received at the second inlet, and travels toward the second porous plate when the raw water is received at the first inlet.
 36. The backwash module of claim 35, further comprising: a movable member configured to move between the first and second porous plates, wherein the movable member travels toward the first porous plate when the raw water is discharged from the first outlet, and travels toward the second porous plate when the backwash water is discharged from the second outlet.
 37. The backwash module of claim 36, wherein the movable member is one of a piston and a diaphragm.
 38. A backwash module configured to perform a backwash by feeding backwash water to a raw water filter, the backwash module comprising: a first inlet configured to receive raw water from a tank storing the raw water; a second inlet configured to receive a portion of permeate water permeated by the raw water filter; a first outlet through which the received raw water is discharged; a second outlet through which the backwash water is discharged; and first and second porous plates configured to compartmentalize a pressurized volume in the backwash module, the pressurized volume including a first compartment communicating with the first inlet and the first outlet, a second compartment communicating with the second inlet and the second outlet, and a common compartment configured to receive the raw water through the first porous plate and to receive the backwash water through the second porous plate, wherein the backwash module feeds the raw water from the first compartment back to the raw water tank.
 39. The backwash module of claim 38, further comprising: a second valve to control the raw water discharged at the first outlet; and a fourth valve to control the permeate water fed to the second inlet, wherein the second and fourth valves (530, 570) are opened in order to feed the portion of the permeate water to the backwash module and are closed when performing the backwash.
 40. The backwash module of claim 38, further comprising: a first valve to control the raw water received at the first inlet; and a third valve to control the backwash water discharged at the second outlet; and wherein the first and third valves (510, 550) are opened in order to perform the backwash and are closed when feeding the portion of the permeate water to the backwash module. 